With the Tories making their final push to ditch the long-gun registry, one Conservative MP was speedily forced to retract his comparison of Liberal support for the registry to Adolf Hitler's policies.
Larry Miller, MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, made those remarks in the House of Commons on Tuesday, sparking loud booing and a Twitter explosion of reprimands.
Here is a transcript of Mr. Miller's comments:
"I would like to share with the House a quote from former Liberal justice minister Allan Rock: 'I came to Ottawa last year with a firm belief that the only people in Canada who should have firearms are police officers and the military.' Does that sound familiar? Adolf Hitler, 1939."
And a few minutes later …
"Similar to Mr. Rock's comments, another prominent Liberal at the time, Senator Sharon Carstairs, said the following: 'The registering of hunting rifles is the first step in the social re-engineering of Canadians.' Can hon. members believe that statement, the social re-engineering of Canadians? That is what Adolf Hitler tried to do in the 1930s."
A few hours later, Mr. Miller apologized for making the references to Hitler, calling them "inappropriate," but that didn't placate interim Liberal leader Bob Rae who called it a "ridiculously destructive remark."
"It takes the whole debate to a terrible low," Mr. Rae said after Question Period. "Anybody who raises the name of Adolf Hitler in a debate always loses. … It's a ludicrous, ridiculous, cheap, horrible comparison."